CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Scientists have exposed some of the mystery behind the northern lights. On Thursday, NASA released findings that indicate magnetic explosions about one-third of the way to the moon cause the northern lights, or aurora borealis, to burst in spectacular shapes and colors, and dance across the sky.
The findings should help scientists better understand the more powerful but less common geomagnetic storms that can knock out satellites, harm astronauts in orbit and disrupt power and communications on Earth, scientists said.
Angelopoulos confirmed that the observed storm about 80,000 miles from Earth was triggered by a phenomenon known as magnetic

by William Atkins According to the July 24, 2008 news release, NASA confirms that the THEMIS spacecraft have found that stressed out magnetic field lines

ScienceDaily (July 24, 2008) - UCLA space scientists and colleagues have identified the mechanism that triggers substorms in space; wreaks havoc on satellites, power grids and communications systems; and leads to the explosive release of energy that causes the spectacular brightening of the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights.
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p in the space environment, which is composed of charged ions and electrons, or "plasma," are suddenly released by an explosive instability. The plasma implodes toward Earth as the space currents are disrupted, which is the start of the substorm.

For decades, sudden brightenings of auroras—also called the northern and southern lights—have puzzled scientists.
Such events have been linked to so-called geomagnetic substorms, disturbances in the outer atmosphere that create "power surges" in the polar lights. But what triggers these substorms has remained a mystery.
rth release energy that dramatically brightens auroras.

Sallie Mae, the US' largest student lender, Wednesday reported that second-quarter profit fell 72 percent, but indicated that business was improving from a

By Ashley Yeager LIGHT TAILSThis photo shows the aurora borealis as seen from the Kola Peninsula in Russia on Feb. 10, 2008.

by Paul Jay, CBC News The aurora borealis draws tourists from across the globe to see the phenomenon once feared and revered but now understood to be

A fleet of satellites has pinpointed the sequence of events that lead to magnetic "substorms" near Earth. These are frequent occurrences that cause auroras and may unleash radiation that can damage satellites.
Some particularly colorful, dancing auroras, appearing every few hours, coincide with sudden tremors in the magnetic fields around Earth. Although these substorms have been observed for decades, no one was sure exactly how they were created.
when the current from charged particles overloads the Earth's magnetosphere like a circuit breaker. That whips particles around and pushes a stream of them towards the planet.

GREENBELT, Md., July 24, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ - Researchers using a fleet of five NASA satellites have discovered that explosions of magnetic energy a third of the way to the moon power substorms that cause sudden brightenings and rapid movements of the aurora borealis, called the Northern Lights.
The culprit turns out to be magnetic reconnection, a common process that occurs throughout the universe when stressed magnetic field lines suddenly snap to a new shape, like a rubber band that's been stretched too far.
tioning system signals and cause power outages. Solving the mystery of where, when, and how substorms occur will allow scientists to construct more realistic substorm models and better predict a magnetic storm's intensity and effects.

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